Kings & Queens of Scotland

Published24th October 2015

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Scotland’s current territorial expanse was arrived at during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The Orkney Islands, formerly part of Denmark, were ceded to Scotland when the dowry of James III’s wife, Margaret of Denmark, could not be paid in cash. The Isles (the Western seaboard and islands previously ruled as a semi-autonomous state) were incorporated into the country by James IV, although there were rebellions under James V.

The Kings of Scotland were the Stewart dynasty – spelt thus until the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary I in Scottish regnal numbering), who changed the spelling to Stuart. The dynasty had ruled since the fourteenth century, but was dogged by repeated long minorities – James I, James II and James III all succeeded as children, James IV was only 15, James V was a baby when he became monarch as were Mary I and James VI. Despite this, and the ensuing factional strife amongst the Regents, (or Governors, as they were called), the dynasty remained in place. Through the marriage of James IV with Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, and the marriage of Mary I with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (also Margaret Tudor’s grandson), the Stuarts became the heirs presumptive to the English throne. This was not without controversy, but, in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England, on the death of the last Tudor monarch.